Good ride for Kevin, better day for me at the shop

Big group this morning, too many to count again. Not a great day for me on the hill, not quite getting under 28, but Kevin once again got just over 25 on Kings, his only disappointment coming towards the end of the ride when he got cut off in the sprint by Keith, which upset Kevin but y’know, you can’t position yourself where he did and not expect that to happen from time to time. The lead guy doesn’t know what’s going on behind, it’s not a straight road, and there’s no official hanging out to make sure you hold a straight line during the final 200 meters.

But what made the day worthwhile for me came much later, when I got to help someone master clipless pedals, someone who’d been having some real problems with them. She thought I’d be putting her in a trainer to master them, but that’s not my style; I think teaching someone clipless pedals in a trainer actually works against them in the real world because the real world doesn’t have you attached to a bike that can’t tip over! So instead I take them out to our parking lot and have them stand over the bike, first clip in one foot, clip it out, do that a couple times, and then switch to the other and do the same, all while one foot is on the ground.

Once they’ve mastered that, it’s all about explaining to them that nothing need be rushed; you start out with one foot clipped in, and you’ve got plenty of time to get the other one in. And most important, unclip a foot well before you come to a stop.

Simple. And in doing this many hundreds of times, I think there’s only been a single person, ever, that I decided clipless pedals weren’t for them. And I’ve dealt with many who were convinced it just wouldn’t work out for them, but it did. This is one of those few things that I can confidently tell people I’m really, really good at.